That’s the wrong approach, moscott, because the focus shouldn’t be on vetting his friend. What will happen to his friend will happen (whether the friend is lying or full of it) and has nothing to do with the OP. The posters above are right - the OP’s problem is with his parents, not his friend. His parents playing the comparison game is wrong regardless of whether the friend gets into East Nowheresville State or sweeps the top schools.